This invention relates to a dump unit for a vehicle that can be used for a variety of purposes. Trucks having an open tiltable, dump body are known and currently used for hauling various materials, and with the aid of a conveyor integrated into the floor of the dump body, the material can be dumped, spread or distributed by a spreading mechanism mounted at the discharge end of the conveyor. Trucks with this type of multi-purpose dump body can therefore be used for hauling and dumping almost any material, including sand, aggregate, fill material, etc. used in construction of roads, for example. In one mode, the dump body is titlted upwardly about its rear end to discharge the material through a pivotally mounted rear endgate that is open. If the truck is moved forwardly with the dump body tilted and the tailgate open, material can be spread over an area. In another mode with the dump body lowered and the conveyor and spreading mechanism operating, the truck can be used to spread and distribute salt-sand or similar mixtures to control ice on a roadway. Trucks having a multi-purpose dump body are also very useful to governmental units which provide multiple services to the general public. These trucks can be used not only for general hauling, road repair and maintenance, snow removal and ice control, but could also be used to assist in refuse collection, although currently they are not used for this purpose.
Although in some cases the services of refuse collection are contracted to private contractors, many cities and towns provide these services directly. At the present time, refuse is typically collected in a specially designed collection vehicle that has an open dump area at the rear where the collectors manually pick up the refuse at curbside and dump it into the vehicle. Because refuse is picked up and dumped into the collection vehicle manually, it is common to impose standards as to the height of the opening at the rear of the collection vehicle so that the collectors do not have to lift the refuse containers too high to empty them in the collection vehicle. Once the refuse is manually deposited in the opening at the rear of the collection vehicle, a hydraulically powered mechanism is operated to move the refuse from the opening into a storage area within an enclosed part of the collection vehicle. When the storage area of the collection vehicle is filled, the refuse is transported to a dump site where the refuse is deposited and the collection vehicle then returned to its collection route. In order to make refuse collection more efficient, these collection vehicles are typically rather large so as to minimize the number of trips that must be made to the dump site. The large size of the collection vehicle may present a problem in some of the inner city routes in of the older metropolitan areas due to the fact that the refuse collection route is commonly through a number of narrow streets and alleys. In many instances, the standard, large collection vehicle simply is too large to navigate these narrow spaces. Therefore, it has become necessary to provide a smaller refuse collection vehicle that can navigate the narrow streets and alleys. The most common such vehicle is an open-bed dump truck which has low sides and is mounted relatively low to the ground to facilitate the manual lifting and dumping of refuse into the open bed. These smaller collection vehicles are commonly downsized dump trucks that have a rear endgate pivotally mounted at its upper edge and which will swing open at the bottom when the dump bed is raised to an angle of approximately 45.degree.. There is also known a dump unit that can be mounted on the bed of a pick-up truck. This unit is an open dump body with a fixed endgate. Such units are typically single purpose vehicles used only for refuse collection.
Users of vehicles of this type obviously are cost conscious and prefer to utilize their vehicles to the maximum extent possible. Governmental units especially have limited budgets and also have the responsibility of maintaining the roadways within their corporate limits. For this purpose, dump trucks are also provided with a blade on the front for snow removal and a spreading mechanism at the rear of the vehicle to spread salt and sand over the roadways. In an effort to minimize costs, there are commercially available vehicles in which the refuse collection bed can be removed from the chassis of the vehicle and replaced with a open dump bed that has a spreading mechanism and conveyor for use in spreading salt or sand or a mixture of salt and sand. However, changing over from a refuse collection bed to a spreader bed is a time consuming and somewhat difficult process, particularly during winter months when frequent snowfalls can interfere with regular refuse collection schedules. Substantial economies could be realized if a multi-purpose vehicle were available which could be used for general hauling, refuse collection, salt and sand spreading, and also be used to spread aggregates, asphalt, etc. in the construction of roads and parking areas. Such a vehicle could also be used for fertilizer spreading. Such a multi-purpose vehicle must be small enough to navigate narrow streets and alleys, be of a size to meet the requirements for manual refuse loading and also be capable of dumping refuse into the larger refuse collection vehicles. It is a primary object of the invention to provide such a vehicle which can be used for all of these purposes without requiring any labor or time in making a changeover from one function to another.